SAN FRANCISCO-The full UC Board of Regents approved the plan to enforce unpaid furloughs Thursday in a 20-1 vote.

Unions still in contract negotiations with the UC system need to approve the furloughs before they take effect on Sept.1.

The furlough plan, which UC president Mark Yudof proposed last week, will implement a sliding scale of unpaid days off ranging from 11 to 26 days per year, with top earners possibly seeing the highest percentage reduction in salary.

The board's committee on finance approved the plan Wednesday, a decision faced with staunch and passionate opposition from university employees and unionized workers.

The plan was required to go before the full board before it could be implemented. There were no protests outside the meeting.

Similar to Wednesday's vote, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi was the sole dissenting vote against the plan.

"The cuts are devastating," he said after the meeting. "I am not about to vote for these when we should be pursuing more revenue for UC."

Garamendi lobbied the regents and chancellors to support AB 656, a bill that would enact a 9.9 severance oil tax to generate about $1 billion in revenue for higher education.

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